Tasteless story of ‘The Bod’ spreads like a cancer
COSMOPOLITAN, one of the country’s most widely distributed consumer magazines, has long come under fire for its focus on physical attractiveness.
On Monday, many people thought the publication went too far with a tweet: “How This Woman Lost 44 Pounds Without *ANY* Exercise.” It featured a photo of a fit woman in a pink lace-up crop top.
Readers who clicked on the link to find out about the astonishing weight-loss secret were taken aback by the story of a woman who lost 20kg after being diagnosed with a rare cancer.
The story’s focus on slimming down infuriated them.
As Jenna Amatulli wrote in the Huffington Post: “The we i g h t loss aspect of ( Simone) Harbinson’s story is unrelated to everything she suffered.”
Cosmopolitan has since deleted the tweet but not before several journalists took screen shots. The story, though, was still on its website on Wednesday morning, and neither Cosmopolitan nor its parent company, Hearst, had yet commented on the controversy.
The story’s headline on Cosmopolitan’s website now reads: “A Serious Health Scare Helped Me Love My Body More Than Ever.” An editor’s note below the article said the story had been updated, but it’s unclear
that led Harbinson to stumble upon The Bod, many on Twitter took it that way.
Some shared personal stories of their brushes with cancer. Others compared the tweet to the recent United Airlines incident in which police dragged a battered man from a plane because he refused to give up his seat. – The Washington Post